Summer program boosts girls’ math skills

Ji-Won Son, the program director for the Summer Math Program interacts with students during an activity session on July 20, 2017. The program was held at the Buffalo Academy of Science in downtown Buffalo. Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Young girls looking to improve their math
skills, interact with some of the area’s most talented
educators and add to their summer fun can enroll in the University
at Buffalo’s free five-day summer camp designed to show
students how math can be “exciting, beautiful and
useful.”

The Summer Math Program, organized by UB faculty member Ji-Won
Son, a nationally respected expert in math education for elementary
and secondary students, will feature “fun and creative
exercises” designed to help girls achieve in math and
technology.

“Although the gender gap has dramatically narrowed in
recent decades, women remain underrepresented in many science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields,” says
Son, assistant professor in the Department of Learning and
Instruction, UB Graduate School of Education. “Research has
shown that it is at the middle school level that girls turn their
attention away from mathematics and to other fields.”

Son says research also has shown that gaps in reading and math
skills grow primarily during summer vacation. “During the
summer, when school was out and non-school influences were
dominant, gender gaps and achievement gaps among students of
varying backgrounds grew largely.

“Nearly every gap grows faster during summer than during
school,” she says. “For example, gaps in math skills
grew across both race, gender and socioeconomic status. Thus,
achievement gaps by gender and socioeconomic status form largely
over the summer, when school was not in session.”

The program, designed for girls in grades four through 10,
addresses this problem by providing an enjoyable, creative
curriculum that supports and encourages their interest in math. The
students will be introduced to mathematical concepts beyond what
they would normally learn in their schools.

“The fun and creative exercises are designed to
demonstrate that math can be exciting, beautiful and useful,”
Son says. “UB’s Summer Math Program can serve as an
equalizer to accentuate existing achievement and gender
disparities.”

The summer math program takes place at three locations from
mid-July to early August: